The present invention relates to poly(vinyl chloride), e.g. PVC, polymers modified with silicones. More particularly, the present invention relates to poly(vinyl chloride) polymers having polydiorganosiloxane chains grafted onto the PVC polymer backbone and methods for making such graft copolymers.
Poly(vinyl chloride) resins are used extensively for making floor covering materials such as linoleum, floor tiles and the like. One disadvantage of such floor covering materials is that they are relatively easily scuffed. Accordingly, a great deal of effort has been made by manufacturers to improve the scuff resistance of these PVC floor covering materials.
Presently it is generally accepted that the most effective and least expensive means for improving scuff resistance is to apply a coating of wax or polish to the floor's surface. However, such protective coatings are removed over a relatively short period of time by repeated washings with various commonly used cleansing agents. Thus it remains a problem in the floor coverings art to provide PVC floor coverings which exhibit substantially-permanent resistance to scuffing.
It is, of course, well known that vinyl chloride can be copolymerized with other monomers to improve the properties of poly(vinyl chloride). See, for example, Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology (1971), John Wiley and Sons, Inc., Vol. 14, pages 345-358. Such copolymers can be either random or block copolymers. Nowhere, however, does the prior art disclose or suggest that the properties of PVC polymer can be improved by grafting polydiorganosiloxane chains to the poly(vinyl chloride) backbone.